President Ma Ying-jeou (堜褙朐) said yesterday he hoped to see Washington sell F-16C/D fighter jets to Taiwan, emphasizing that improved cross-strait relations did not clash with Taipei＊s relationship with the international community.
The president＊s remark came after he stressed the need for Taiwan to continue acquiring weapons from the US in a videoconference call with China experts in Washington on April 23.
Ma, who is on a 10-day state visit to Central America, mentioned the need to purchase the advanced fighter planes in telephone conversations with US lawmakers from his hotel in Los Angeles before leaving for Belize.
Ma talked to Republican Senator John McCain and eight congressmen on the phone and was visited by Republican Representative David Dreier at the hotel.
In addition to urging Washington to sign an extradition agreement with Taiwan and extend visa-free privileges to Taiwanese visitors, Ma brought up the procurement of the F-16C/D jets.
Dreier told reporters after their meeting that Ma has made efforts to ease tensions in the Taiwan Strait and was an outstanding democratic leader.
Washington and Taipei should continue to strengthen 〝business ties as well as cooperation in other areas, he said.
At a dinner with overseas compatriots in Belize later yesterday, Ma said that he had told American Institute in Taiwan (AIT) Chairman Raymond Burghardt during their meeting in Los Angeles that the development of cross-strait ties and Taiwan＊s relationship with the international community were not mutually exclusive.
Ma said that during the 1990s, for example, Taiwan purchased F-16s from the US and Mirage 2000-5 fighters from France, while at the same time reaching the ※1992 consensus§ with China, which paved the way for effectively handling the ※one China§ issue.
Following Washington＊s approval of further arms sales to Taiwan in October last year, Ma said, China＊s Association for Relations Across the Taiwan Strait Chairman Chen Yunlin (蠊磩釱) visited Taipei in November and former vice president Lien Chan (盓霝) attended the APEC summit on Ma＊s behalf the same month.
The country＊s participation in the World Health Assembly as an observer this year was another example, Ma said.
Although his administration has yet to negotiate with Beijing about his ※diplomatic truce§ proposal, both sides have extended goodwill gestures and made significant progress, Ma said.
He added that improving cross-strait relations was the right way to go, which was why he approved of Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) members visiting China.
Ma said he hoped these visits would continue despite criticism from pan-green camp supporters.
Improving cross-strait ties and developing a healthier and more normal relationship with China were not the sole responsibility of the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT), Ma said.
It is essential that all parties reach out to one another for the sake of Taiwan＊s survival, Ma said, adding that the time was ripe to rethink cross-strait and international relations because both sides now had more opportunities for exchanges and to build peace and prosperity on both sides of the Taiwan Strait.
※Improving cross-strait relations is beneficial to Taiwan,§ he said. ※All our policy decisions are guided by the principle that Taiwan is always the focus and that the public＊s interests come first. We will never sell out Taiwan. On the contrary, we will protect its sovereignty and its people＊s dignity because this is my presidential duty.§
Ma is leading a 159-member delegation to attend the inauguration of Salvadoran president-elect Mauricio Funes on Monday. He made a one-night stopover in Los Angeles on his way there and will also visit Guatemala before stopping in Seattle on his way back.
As this year marks the 20th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic ties with Belize, Ma has been invited to speak at the parliament today and receive the key to the capital city of Belmopan.
The delegation is scheduled to leave for Guatemala today.
Also See: US to ignore Ma policy requests: sources
Also See: EDITORIAL: Aren＊t we vulnerable enough?
ENDEAVOR MANTA: The ship is programmed to automatically return to its designated home port and would self-destruct if seized by another party The Endeavor Manta, Taiwan’s first military-specification uncrewed surface vehicle (USV) tailor-made to operate in the Taiwan Strait in a bid to bolster the nation’s asymmetric combat capabilities made its first appearance at Kaohsiung’s Singda Harbor yesterday. Taking inspiration from Ukraine’s navy, which is using USVs to force Russia’s Black Sea fleet to take shelter within its own ports, CSBC Taiwan (台灣國際造船) established a research and development unit on USVs last year, CSBC chairman Huang Cheng-hung (黃正弘) said. With the exception of the satellite guidance system and the outboard motors — which were purchased from foreign companies that were not affiliated with Chinese-funded
PERMIT REVOKED: The influencer at a news conference said the National Immigration Agency was infringing on human rights and persecuting Chinese spouses Chinese influencer “Yaya in Taiwan” (亞亞在台灣) yesterday evening voluntarily left Taiwan, despite saying yesterday morning that she had “no intention” of leaving after her residence permit was revoked over her comments on Taiwan being “unified” with China by military force. The Ministry of the Interior yesterday had said that it could forcibly deport the influencer at midnight, but was considering taking a more flexible approach and beginning procedures this morning. The influencer, whose given name is Liu Zhenya (劉振亞), departed on a 8:45pm flight from Taipei International Airport (Songshan airport) to Fuzhou, China. Liu held a news conference at the airport at 7pm,
Taiwan was ranked the fourth-safest country in the world with a score of 82.9, trailing only Andorra, the United Arab Emirates and Qatar in Numbeo’s Safety Index by Country report. Taiwan’s score improved by 0.1 points compared with last year’s mid-year report, which had Taiwan fourth with a score of 82.8. However, both scores were lower than in last year’s first review, when Taiwan scored 83.3, and are a long way from when Taiwan was named the second-safest country in the world in 2021, scoring 84.8. Taiwan ranked higher than Singapore in ninth with a score of 77.4 and Japan in 10th with
GRIDLOCK: The National Fire Agency’s Special Search and Rescue team is on standby to travel to the countries to help out with the rescue effort A powerful earthquake rocked Myanmar and neighboring Thailand yesterday, killing at least three people in Bangkok and burying dozens when a high-rise building under construction collapsed. Footage shared on social media from Myanmar’s second-largest city showed widespread destruction, raising fears that many were trapped under the rubble or killed. The magnitude 7.7 earthquake, with an epicenter near Mandalay in Myanmar, struck at midday and was followed by a strong magnitude 6.4 aftershock. The extent of death, injury and destruction — especially in Myanmar, which is embroiled in a civil war and where information is tightly controlled at the best of times —
RSS